Australia: RBA is scaling back QE purchases amidst record drop in employment – MUFG

Even in countries that have imposed less strict lockdowns such as Australia, the hit to the economies has still been severe, per MUFG Bank.  

Key quotes

“The Australian economy lost a record 594.3k jobs in April, and the unemployment rate jumped by 1 percentage point to 6.2%. Total hours worked collapsed by a record 9% capturing the huge hit to household incomes.”

“The RBA has been scaling back policy support as financial market conditions improve, and has decided against buying government bonds this week.”

“The RBNZ increased QE purchases to NZD60 billion from NZD33 billion and opened the door to negative rates.”

“The widening policy divergence is reinforcing upward pressure on the AUD/NZD rate.”